Method and apparatus for tomography imaging

Abstract

A method and apparatus for determining the position of a feature of an object under test in a tomography image are disclosed. The method includes: determining characterizing points, in an additional image, of a feature of the object of interest; determining position data relating to the feature in the additional image based on the detected characterizing points; and identifying a feature of the object of interest in the tomography image. The determined position data in the additional image is used to guide the identification. A computer readable medium which may be non-transitory and upon execution by a processor configures a computer to perform the method is also disclosed.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for processing a tomography image, the method comprising:
 identifying an optic disc in a tomography image; 
 detecting a plurality of layer boundaries of retina layers in the tomography image, wherein the plurality of layer boundaries include a boundary between a Vitreous and a Retina Nerve Fiber Layer; and 
 in the tomography image, converging the detected layer boundaries, except the detected boundary between the Vitreous and the Retina Nerve Fiber Layer, to an end of a Retina Pigment Epithelium layer around the identified optic disc. 
 
     
     
       2. An image processing method comprising:
 identifying an optic disc in a tomography image using a processor; 
 detecting a plurality of layer boundaries of retina layers in the tomography image using the processor, wherein the plurality of layer boundaries include a boundary between a Vitreous and a Retina Nerve Fiber Layer; and 
 correcting, using the processor, the layer boundaries, except the boundary between the Vitreous and the Retina Nerve Fiber Layer, detected in the detecting, in such a way as to converge the layer boundaries, except the detected boundary between the Vitreous and the Retina Nerve Fiber Layer, to a position near the optic disc in a predetermined layer included in the tomography image. 
 
     
     
       3. The image processing method according to  claim 2 , wherein the position near the optic disc in the predetermined layer is an end position of the predetermined layer. 
     
     
       4. The image processing method according to  claim 3 , wherein the end position of the predetermined layer is determined based on the position of the optic disc. 
     
     
       5. The image processing method according to  claim 2 , wherein the predetermined layer is a Retina Pigment Epithelium layer. 
     
     
       6. The image processing method according to  claim 2 , wherein detecting includes detecting the layer boundaries in the tomography image based on the position of the optic disc. 
     
     
       7. The image processing method according to  claim 6 , wherein detecting includes detecting the layer boundaries by analyzing the tomography image along a direction away from the position of the optic disc in a direction orthogonal to a depth direction of the tomography image. 
     
     
       8. The image processing method according to  claim 2 , wherein, in the identifying, the processor identifies the optic disc in a fundus image, and identifies the optic disc in the tomography image based on a position of the optic disc in the fundus image. 
     
     
       9. The image processing method according to  claim 8 , wherein identifying includes determining a range of area in the tomography image, which is subjected to image analysis performed to identify the optic disc in the tomography image based on the position of the optic disc in the fundus image. 
     
     
       10. An image processing apparatus comprising:
 at least one processor coupled to a memory; 
 an identification unit configured to identify an optic disc in a tomography image; 
 a boundary detection unit configured to detect a plurality of layer boundaries of retina layers in the tomography image, wherein the plurality of layer boundaries include a boundary between a Vitreous and a Retina Nerve Fiber Layer; and 
 a correction unit configured to correct the layer boundaries, except the boundary between the Vitreous and the Retina Nerve Fiber Layer, detected by the boundary detection unit, in such a way as to converge the layer boundaries, except the detected boundary between the Vitreous and the Retina Nerve Fiber Layer, to a position of the optic disc, 
 wherein the identification unit, the boundary detection unit, and the correction unit are implemented by the at least one processor. 
 
     
     
       11. An image processing apparatus comprising:
 at least one processor coupled to a memory; 
 an identification unit configured to identify an optic disc in a tomography image; and 
 a boundary detection unit configured to detect a layer boundary by analyzing the tomography image along a direction away from a position of the optic disc in a direction orthogonal to a depth direction of the tomography image, 
 wherein the identification unit and the boundary detection unit are implemented by the at least one processor. 
 
     
     
       12. An image processing method comprising:
 detecting a plurality of layer boundaries in a tomography image using a processor wherein the plurality of layer boundaries include a boundary between a Vitreous and a Retina Nerve Fiber Layer; and 
 correcting the plurality of layer boundaries, except the boundary between the Vitreous and the Retina Nerve Fiber Layer, detected in the detecting, in such a manner that ends of the plurality of layer boundaries, except the detected boundary between the Vitreous and the Retina Nerve Fiber Layer, are aligned more closely to one another near the optic disc. 
 
     
     
       13. An image processing method comprising:
 identifying an optic disc in a tomography image using a processor; 
 detecting a plurality of layer boundaries of retina layers in the tomography image using the processor, wherein the plurality of layer boundaries include a boundary between a Vitreous and a Retina Nerve Fiber Layer; and 
 correcting, using the processor, layer boundaries, except the boundary between the Vitreous and the Retina Nerve Fiber Layer, detected in the detecting, in such a way as to converge the layer boundaries, except the detected boundary between the Vitreous and the Retina Nerve Fiber Layer, to an end of a predetermined layer. 
 
     
     
       14. The image processing method according to  claim 13 , wherein the predetermined layer is a Retina Pigment Epithelium layer. 
     
     
       15. An image processing method comprising:
 identifying an optic disc in a tomography image using a processor; 
 detecting a plurality of layer boundaries of retina layers in the tomography image using a processor, wherein the plurality of layer boundaries include a boundary between a Vitreous and a Retina Nerve Fiber Layer; and 
 correcting, using a processor, the layer boundaries, except the boundary between the Vitreous and the Retina Nerve Fiber Layer, detected in the detecting, based on a position of the optic disc. 
 
     
     
       16. The image processing method according to  claim 15 , wherein, in the identifying, the processor identifies the optic disc in a fundus image, and identifies the optic disc in the tomography image based on a position of the optic disc in the fundus image. 
     
     
       17. The image processing method according to  claim 16 , wherein identifying includes determining a range of area in the tomography image, which is subjected to image analysis performed to identify the optic disc in the tomography image based on the position of the optic disc in the fundus image. 
     
     
       18. An image processing method comprising:
 identifying a region representing an optic disc in a tomography image using a processor; 
 detecting a plurality of layer boundaries of retina layers in the tomography image using a processor, wherein the plurality of layer boundaries are located different positions in a depth direction of the tomography image; and 
 correcting, using a processor, the layer boundaries detected in the detecting based on a position of the region representing the optic disc identified in the identifying. 
 
     
     
       19. The image processing method according to  claim 18 , wherein, in the identifying, the processor identifies a region representing the optic disc in a fundus image, and identifies the region representing the optic disc in the tomography image based on a position of the region representing the optic disc in the fundus image. 
     
     
       20. The image processing method according to  claim 19 , wherein identifying includes determining a range of area in the tomography image, which is subjected to image analysis performed to identify the region representing the optic disc in the tomography image based on the position of the region representing the optic disc in the fundus image.